Forge
by Oogum
Summary: A shock that disillusions Sakura leads her to re-examine her life and sets her on a path towards maturity and strength that ultimately leads to her integral part of Konoha. Slightly AU and no parings yet.


**AN#1:** This will be the only AN at the top, everything else will be posted at the end of the chapters. As a general, and all encompassing disclaimer, I don't own Naruto, the characters within, any affiliated companies, yadda, yadda. Of course, after seeing all the disclaimers on this site, I'm curious if somebody has actually gotten sued for writing on this site without one. Moving along, definitions are at the bottom with some overly detailed explanations; you're perfectly in your rights to skip them but I won't be repeating any definitions in any subsequent chapters. I'm afraid that the first couple of chapters will be mostly setting up the framework for my fictional world without any drastic plot movement. Please forgive me for the lack of excitement. I promise, once I hit graduation day, things will start picking up. Thank you for reading.

**Summary:** Sakura realizes her inefficiencies earlier than cannon and works to overcome them. Drastically re-worked background for Sakura that quickly breaks away from cannon plot. Romance/pairing will come much later so right now, the T-rating comes from language and eventual violent situations.

**Forge Chapter 1**

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><p>"Forehead! Just give up already! Everyone knows that Sasuke-kun likes me the best and would never date someone like you!" Sakura just growled back at Ino, focusing more on the road in front of them. Here she was on a beautiful day racing Ino to the academy in one of their competitions for Sasuke's attention. Turning the corner, Sakura saw an orange blur coming at them. Seconds later, the orange and blond boy announced to the world his reasons for charging the two girls.<p>

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled while waving his hand. "Sakura-chan! Do you want to go eat ramen with me later?"

Sakura stumbled at the words, knowing that the boy meant it as a date and would be persistent in trying to get her attention. She was about to shout at Naruto for being so oblivious to her and Sasuke's eternal love when she glanced ahead at the academy gates just in time for Ino to reach them. Sakura growled at the haughty glance the other girl threw back at her and slowed down to a dejected walk.

"You let her win! Damn it!" cried Inner Sakura. "And don't forget whose fault it is!" Sakura's gaze which had been glowering at the ground quickly looked up at the grinning blond.

With an eye twitch, Sakura shouted "Idiot! What did you do that for! You made me lose to Ino-pig!" Naruto lost his grin and his blue eyes squinted up slightly into her accusing stare.

He let loose a pout and stammered "B-but Sakura-chan, I didn't know you two were racing."

"What?" Sakura ground out, "how could you not notice two people racing?" Sakura set her hands on her hips, demanding to hear a satisfactory answer.

"Well, it's not like you two were going very fast. It just looked like you were jogging together to get to class early," Naruto put out with a sheepish grin while rubbing the back of his head.

"Jogging! Jogging?" She howled to herself. "We were sprinting for Sasuke-kun's love!" Sakura was stunned that Naruto would underestimate her undying love for Sasuke like that. Jogging indeed.

"Wait, wait. Sakura," Inner Sakura said, "he thought our flat-out sprinting was a jog! What the hell is that suppose to mean? Is he calling us slow? Bastard!" Sakura blinked at her Inner's interpretation of Naruto's words.

"She's right. He pretty much just called me slow," she thought, unaware that her fists were gradually clenching at her sides.

"Are you calling me week Naruto-baka?" she forced out between gritted teeth. Naruto went into a panicked state waving his arms and furiously shaking his head.

"No Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan's amazing. I wouldn't ever say that you are week." Naruto then gained a bright blush and sheepish look, "I like Sakura-chan too much to call you week." Sakura winced at the confession but noticed a hole in his denial.

"So, you think I'm week but you won't say it out loud Naruto-baka!" She then spun around and stomped towards the academy gates, ignoring the frantic blond behind her.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about," Sakura growled to herself.

"Damn right he doesn't! Besides, it's Sasuke-kun that matters." Inner Sakura shouted back. With a slightly better outlook at herself, Sakura stepped onto the Academy grounds only to be confronted with the horrible sight of Ino standing near Sasuke confessing for the world to hear that she liked him. Sakura almost went into a fit, glaring at her bitter rival. She was just about to go over and save her precious Sasuke from the evil Pig when she overheard his response.

"Tch. Week and annoying." Sakura froze watching Sasuke leave the wall where he had been coolly slouched against and wander into the classroom, never looking back at the stricken blond.

"Hah! That's what the Pig deserves" shouted her Inner.

"But. . ." Sakura started, looking at her ex-best friend that was finally shaking herself free from Sasuke's words.

"But what?" Inner threw back. "Ino-pig lost. Sasuke-kun all but said that we're the only one for him! Now let's go rub it into Ino-pig's face!" Sakura grinned at the thought of finally winning against Ino, but she quickly loss whatever feeling of victory she had when she went over Sasuke's sparse rejection.

"He never said anything about me. He just drop-kicked Ino-pig's feelings over the Hokage monument. And he called her week. If she beat me, then doesn't that make me weaker? Even Naruto-baka thinks I'm slow." Inner Sakura suspiciously had nothing to say. Sakura was interrupted by a teacher calling out to the stragglers in the yard to get inside. Once she got into the classroom, she took her normal seat in the front right row next to the quiet Hyuuga heiress.

"Good morning Hinata-chan," Sakura said distractedly, almost missing the quiet greeting in return. Sakura shook herself out of her funk, promising that she would think about it later. She started focusing on her surroundings just in time to hear Iruka, her teacher, start his lecture.

It was slightly aggravating, but the Academy stressed memorization; as such, notes were frowned upon and tests where just as likely to be verbal or simply demonstration as they were written. The Sodaime maintained the traditional belief that a shinobi should have the basics that are taught in the Academy memorized into his or her very bones. A shinobi couldn't whip out a cheat sheet on the battle field, now could they?

This posed little problem for Sakura with her near photographic memory and sharp mind. She had little problem acing every exam placed in front of her. She also knew all the ninjutsu and taijutsu taught to academy students. The problem was simply that she wasn't interested in looking like a muscle-bound freak to actually practice them. As if Sasuke would like her then!

She spent her morning only half listening to Iruka's lecture on the intricate diplomatic structure set up between the Shogun and Konoha. The other part of her mind was stuck on the scene from earlier.

"I don't think I ever saw Ino-pig that broken." Sakura mused.

"It doesn't matter! We're rivals, and we just got closer to winning! Stop being a softy and keep your eye on the goal! Sasuke-kun here we come! Hell yeah!"

"He's a person, not a trophy!" Sakura cut into her Inner's rant.

"A sexy person that you want to claim," Inner Sakura slyly remarked.

"Inner! Stop you pervert!"

"You wanna hold him. You wanna kiss him, you wanna . . ." Inner Sakura started to sing.

"Argh! Never mind. And besides, Sasuke-kun might be the sexiest person in Konoha, but he seems kind of mean."

"Hey! Stop insulting Sasuke-kun!"

"I'm not insulting him, I'm just saying. You saw how he rejected Ino-pig. It would have been nicer for him to say 'never in a million years.' I mean, did he have to insult her on top of it?" Sakura felt an uncomfortable shifting from her Inner persona but continued on. "Inner, he called her week. And you and I both know that Ino's stronger than us." Inner Sakura tried to violently reject that statement but was steamrolled by Sakura. "Inner, Ino has her family's kekkei genkai which automatically makes her better than us at ninjutsu. Heck, even Hinata-chan is stronger than us with her Bayakugan. She might squeak like a mouse every time she's spoken to, but she has decent taijutsu skills and those eyes"

Inner just sighed in defeat and retreated. Sakura heard Iruka dismissing everyone for the day reminding them graduation was only a month away. Sakura slowly stood up trying to get out of her depressed state. She succeeded when she heard the stammering of Hinata to her right.

"Uhm. S-sakura-chan?" Hinata blushed when she gained Sakura's attention.

"That blush is nowhere near as bright as the one when Naruto-baka is looking her way," Sakura thought with a silent giggle.

"Yeah Hinata-chan? What's up?" Both girls had been friends for a couple of years and it showed in Hinata's ability to string a full sentence together in Sakura's presence.

"W-well, I was w-wondering if you would like to go out to eat lunch with m-me." Sakura had to lean in and strain to catch the last part of the girl's sentence. Full sentences or not, Hinata still stuttered slightly and spoke softly around Sakura. Sakura didn't mind since Hinata always got her point across in the end.

"Uh, I'm sorry Hinata-chan. I already promised my mom that I would eat lunch back at home so I could help her with a few things afterwards." Sakura offered a small smile and shrug that seemed to say 'parents - what can you do?"

When Hinata frowned and started to fidget with her hands, Sakura quickly tried to make her friend feel better; "Maybe tomorrow Hinata-chan."

Hinata looked up at Sakura with a small smile and said, "But Sakura-chan, we have a taijutsu test tomorrow." Sakura smacked her head in response. She had completely spaced the afternoon training that was scheduled for tomorrow.

The Academy, unlike it's civilian counterparts, only went for half a day. The teachers said it was so the students had sufficient time to train either with their families or on their own but it seemed to Sakura that the determining factor behind the short days was practicality. How many kids could they give a kunai to without a window being broken or worse? How long could they keep chakra and battle trained kids in lecture? The daily trips to the hospital and frequent snores from the back of the classroom painted an obvious picture as to why the Academy only went five hours.

This meant, at exactly noon, all the students were free to leave and find their own source of food. As Sakura's cousins frequently pointed out: luckily, no cafeteria or Mystery Meat Fridays.

The catch to this seemingly wonderful system were the periodic Academy testing days. Every so often, the teachers would arrange for an afternoon where the students stayed for an additional three hours to hold a physical test. For Sakura, these days tended to be long and tedious with them ending with her and Ino verbally fighting over Sasuke until a yelling Iruka separated them. By far, not her favorite thing to do.

Sakura was pulled out of her musing yet again by Hinata's fidgeting and small frown. With Inner Sakura snickering in the back of her mind, she quickly tried to remedy the situation.

"Well, if you want, you can come back with me today and have lunch at my place," Sakura offered. Hinata looked up and shyly nodded.

The two set off from the Academy for Sakura's house that was situated at the edge of the village. It was a slight hassle to be so far from everything, but the Haruno's loved privacy and a lot of it. Besides, as her mother always insisted, a little walking wouldn't kill her. After a solid twenty minutes of comfortable silence between the girls, the Haruno house came into view. More accurately, the Haruno compound came into view. Unlike most of the large clans, the Harunos had opted out of a large wall and gate separating them from the rest of the village. Instead, the compound seemed to melt into the surrounding forest. Again, unlike the other major clans in Konoha, the Haruno compound consisted of many smaller, single family homes that seemed to emerge from the surrounding trees and landscape. The other compounds usually had one large mansion for the direct family line and a few surrounding outer buildings for more distantly removed cousins.

Sakura led Hinata past multiple homes, some with young children playing in the front yards who would stop and wave happily at the two. Farther in came the smoke billowing from the blacksmith workshops where the majority of the clan's men and women worked to create the famed Haruno metalwork.

"Yet another difference between us," thought Sakura. She saw the glances from Hinata towards the forge and noticed the curiosity shinning in the milky pools.

The Haruno clan was a craftsmen clan and damn proud of it. Unlike the great shinobi clans with their kekkei genkai, the Harunos specialized in the art of metalwork. It was rumored that even a nail from the Haruno forge would surpass all others in durability and strength. Sakura thought that was a bit of a stretch, but there was no doubt in the quality of work that came from her family's forge. Any shinobi would kill to have even a single kunai from the Haruno armory.

Sakura snickered over her inadvertent pun. Many times, a shinobi would literally have to kill to afford some of the nicer weapons. The work might be the best, but that also was reflected in the price tag. For most, it took at least a high rank assassination mission to pay for a beautifully wrought wakizashi with the Haruno crest on it. Most shinobi had to be content drooling at the display case featured in the Haruno shop in downtown Konoha or save their mission pay for years.

Sakura gave one last look at the workshops before they disappeared around the bend. She instead focused her gaze upon a front door that seemed to be oddly placed along the flat side of a towering boulder on top of a steep hill. With Hinata following, Sakura quickly made it up the path and knocked on the door once before opening it and stepping in.

"I'm home" she cried out, kicking off her shoes into a messy pile while waiting for Hinata to politely, and neatly Sakura noted, line up her shoes with the others left there from the rest of the household. While waiting, Sakura found only her mother's shoes but her father's large boots were unsurprisingly absent. He was probably at the forge helping with the recent influx of orders. Sakura heard from one of her cousins that it had to do with the Shogun's son coming of age. It didn't matter to her other than more orders meant more money for her clan. Since she was the heiress it was hard not to cheer at that fact.

"Sakura? Is that you? Come here and help me out a bit." With instructions to make herself at home, Sakura left Hinata and jogged towards the sound of her mother's voice.

The boulder might have been the focus on the outside, but the majority of Sakura's house was located in the hill it rested upon. She trotted down a large spiral staircase, continuing until the third floor then heading towards the study where her mother was located. The house itself, although buried, was cleverly designed to have multiple small windows that where disguised form the outside. They let light in to be directed by strategic mirrors and lenses to create a natural lighting even at the bottommost level.

When Sakura finally walked into the study, she saw her mother sitting at a large and beautifully wrought silver desk that had been passed down for generations. It was a testimony to the Haruno skill with its intricate lacy style and was a bold reminder that the clan didn't just exist for the sole purpose of providing their shinobi neighbors with Death's tools. The sentiment behind the desk was almost as rich as the large hammer that hung on the wall behind it. The solid iron hammer was supposedly forged and wielded by the founder of the clan, Madoka Haruno. At over four hundred pounds, this seemed more myth than fact to Sakura who weighed under one forth the weight.

While these two cornerstones in Haruno history seemed to radiate power, Sakura's eyes were instead locked on a familiar and comforting sight.

Her mother, though aging, was considered to be one of the most beautiful women in Konoha. A simple blue cardigan draped over a white sundress did nothing to hide a willowy frame with fair glowing skin. A gentle heart-shaped face held a slightly upturned nose and high cheekbones with the only signs of ageing being in the light laugh lines around her eyes and soft pink lips. Deep red hair was gathered into a loose plait that draped lazily down her back to her waist which was quite different from the majority of Konoha who tended to be either brunette or black haired. Even golden blond was more common. Sakura suspected this was because her mother was originally from east of Sea Country rather than a Fire Country native. Unfortunately, according to Sakura, the only trait she didn't inherit were the fiery locks. Instead she got pink. It took many years for her to get over Fate's little joke, but she eventually came to terms with her bizarre coloring.

Sakura's mother looked up from a large pile of paper work that swallowed the work space when she heard Sakura come in. Matching pairs of green eyes locked onto each other as their owners smiled in greeting.

"Oh good, you got here just in time. Grab that pile of books and scrolls over by the couch and take them to the terrace. We'll do the work out there since it's such a gorgeous day." Sakura grumbled slightly at the manual labor but relented under her mother's smile. While picking up the heavy load, she grunted which gained her mother's attention.

"You're supposed to be a kunoichi, dear. That should be nothing," Sakura's mother lightly teased. When Sakura didn't' respond but instead frowned and walked out of the room, Sakura's mother let a furrow grow between her brow and a frown replace her joking smile. She sighed and shook her head while following her daughter with a load of papers. Sakura, several steps ahead of her mother, thought she heard the woman mumble something about touchy pre-teens.

Stepping off the staircase a floor underneath the entrance led into a spacious living room with a couple couches and an armchair. Sakura mentally smacked herself when she saw Hinata nervously perched on the edge of a cushion.

"Ah, Mom," she said while turning." I forgot, but I invited Hinata-chan over for lunch. Sorry I didn't tell you before." She shifted the scrolls in her arms while hoping her mother wouldn't mind the unexpected guest.

"A-ah. Ha-haruno-sama! S-s-sorry if I'm int-t-trud-ding," Hinata squeaked out as she leapt from her seated position to bow to the woman just emerging from the stairs.

"Hinata-chan! It's always a pleasure to have you as our guest," Sakura's mother smiled at the timid girl as she walked further into the room. "And what have I said about calling me by my name?"

"A-ah. Uh, E-ena-san," Hinata whispered out from her still bowing and now blushing form. Ena giggled, knowing the girl was raised in a stricter household where calling an adult by their given name, let alone the head of the clan, was unheard of and deeply frowned upon. Sakura added to her tally of differences between herself and her friend.

The Haruno clan was infamous for being laid back about decorum. They offended more than a few people when they refused to use elevated etiquette towards the majority of people. A frequently heard response to such critics was: "Respect is earned. Earn it from me and I'll give you your damn pomp and dance. Until then, either shut up and buy my wears or get out." Those same arrogant merchants would leave in a self-righteous fury swearing never to come back again only to grovel the next day for an opportunity to buy from the clan, etiquette or not.

Hinata's clan was almost the polar opposite. The one time Sakura visited the Hyuuga compound she felt like she was walking on glass and a thousand white eyes were watching for her inevitable screw up. She had managed not to mess up the bowing and scraping towards the other Hyuuga clan members that she encountered and she withheld from her more plebian tendencies. The mistake came near the end of the visit and was almost spectacular in its nature. Sakura, walking next to Hinata in the gardens, managed to trip on the edge of her yukata and fall into Hinata who then fell into the thin wooden fence that discretely encircled the garden. To further destroy any dignity Sakura had left, the fence caved in and set off a chain reaction that had the end post near the house snapping and flying through a sliding paper door to land in the lap of Hiroshi Hyuuga, the clan head. The glare she received was enough to warn her away from the Hyuuga compound for fourteen months and counting.

Sakura shook off the embarrassing memory and headed to the far blank wall where she found the hidden door by memory. Hinata gave a slight gasp as the door opened to show a wide metal-wrought terrace that was hidden from the front path. Sakura smiled, knowing that this hidden alcove was one of her mother's favorite places in the house. She set down her load on a table outside and enjoyed the bright afternoon sunshine and light breeze while she waited for her mother to find a suitable paperweight to prevent the documents form littering the forest floor. Ena turned around to look at the two girls only to hear a soft growl from Sakura's stomach which caused good natured and surprised chuckles to fill the silence.

"I think I'm telling myself that it's past lunch time," Sakura state with a tint of red highlighting her sheepish look.

"Why don't we go make some sandwiches and eat out here on the terrace?" Ena suggested the girls. They quickly agreed and walked back inside. With Ena leading the way down to the third floor, Sakura gave Hinata a slight tour knowing the girl hadn't been any deeper than the living room in her previous visits.

"Well, the first floor, as you know, is pretty much just an entrance hall. The second is the living room, bathroom, and the terrace," Sakura stated in her best tour guide voice.

"S-second floor Sakura-chan?" Hinata gave a confused look towards her friend wondering at the odd counting.

"Yeah, since the top floor is the one you enter first, it just made sense to switch things around. The house is kind of backwards," Sakura said with a small grin and shrug. Hinata giggled in response and continued to follow the Haruno women out of the staircase into what she now knew to refer to as the third floor.

"The third floor holds the study, kitchen and dining room. The bedrooms with their connected bathrooms are on the fourth floor," Sakura continued. Both girls wandered into the spacious kitchen where Ena was already pulling out the ingredients for sandwiches. Sakura, being well trained in basic manners, led Hinata to a barstool tucked under the counter and offered to get her something to drink. She eventually hopped up onto her own barstool after Ena waved off her offer to help. While sipping on glasses of lemonade, Hinata and Sakura chatted about the Academy and today's lesson; they mostly focused on how boring Iruka was rather than the shifting power moves between political giants. Eventually Hinata brought up that Sakura was almost late to class and hesitantly said that wasn't normal. Sakura got quiet and slightly gloomy before answering.

"I, uh, saw Ino-pig confess to Sasuke-kun," Sakura managed to get out. Hinata froze but quickly became apologetic and started stammering out sympathetic words knowing that Sakura was probably hurt by her rival's actions. Ena just remained quiet but focused her gaze on Sakura's face as if waiting for a cue to sweep in and hug her daughter.

Sakura cut into the increasing babble from Hinata, "Yeah, it hurt somewhat, but he said no." The other two waited for Sakura to continue. When it was apparent she was planning on staying quiet, Ena softly prodded her daughter to continue.

"If he said no, then why do you seem. . ." she trailed off, hoping not to push the girl too much.

"It's just," Sakura stalled, "Well, he, uh, seemed cold." Hinata gave a slight nod showing comprehension and her desire for her friend to continue.

"It, I mean he," Sakura struggled. She knew what she wanted to say. Sasuke Uchia was a cold hearted bastard towards Ino that essentially, though inadvertently, made Sakura question her own worth as a kunoichi. But she couldn't come out and say it that bluntly. Hinata might be her friend, but ever since the fallout with Ino, Sakura started to increasingly rely more on herself. Questioning herself was bad enough but she didn't need her only friend doing it as well. But, Hinata and her mother were waiting.

"It's just that, maybe Sasuke-kun could have been nicer about turning Ino-pig down. He pretty much insulted her then brushed her off." Hinata, Sakura noted, stayed silent. She knew Hinata was one of the few girls at the Academy that hadn't fallen for Sasuke. She also knew, somewhat, that Hinata thought that Sasuke was definitely less than what the other girls saw but was too polite to actually say it. This was probably one of the reasons why she and Hinata never clashed. Sakura knew of her fan girl tendencies but also knew that Hinata would never be either a threat to her crush or bold enough to say anything directly against it.

Her mother, on the other hand, never fully supported Sakura on her quest for Sasuke. Ena would be nice and dance around the subject, but never flat out give her approval. Her father - well there was a reason she never invited Sasuke to her home.

Sakura shifted uncomfortably and glanced towards her mother. Noticing the sandwiches were done, she abruptly suggested they go ahead and eat. The other two graciously accepted the change of topic and started for the stairs. Ena started up a conversation filled with small talk that consumed the three for the entirety of the meal.

With the meal finished, Sakura offered to walk Hinata at least to the edge of the compound, promising her mother that she would be quick about coming back. After saying her goodbye, Sakura turned to head back to her house falling back into thought about the mornings events. She was snapped out of her memories when a booming voice reached her.

"You there girl or should I be worried?" Sakura jerked up her head to see her father striding towards her from the direction of the forges. A grin lit up her face as she briskly walked to her father.

"Dad! How was the forge? She asked when she reached him.

Kichirou Haruno was a stereotypical blacksmith: huge and muscular with soot smudged into his forearms and face. He towered over Sakura's petite frame as his black mop of curly hair easily brushed over the six-foot mark. Combined with a scruffy beard, sweat soaked black tank top, plain jeans, and sensible working boots, it was hard to see something that hinted towards his position at the head of the clan. The familiar smell of smoke clung to his frame and was one every Haruno associated with family.

Sakura smile up into his dirty face and asked "Dad, are you heading home?" He chuckled and nodded, offering to walk with her. Trotting to keep up with Kichirou, Sakura tried to let her worries go but the cold voice of Sasuke dismissing Ino seemed to keep repeating in her head.

"Sakura, what's the matter?" Kichirou cut into her brooding. Sakura blinked and blushed at being caught and wondered if she should mention anything to her father. Maybe if she approached it delicately it would work.

"Uh, nothing much Dad." They continued walking in silence for a bit before she spoke again.

"Uhm, Dad?" She hesitated before getting a soothing rumble to continue. "Have you ever thought highly of someone and then you see them doing something that lessens your opinion of them?" Sakura burst out, knowing that she failed in keeping herself collected.

"Well, that sucked" Inner Sakura popped up.

"Shut up! Where were you when I was planning it? You could have said something beforehand!" Sakura shouted nervously at her Inner. She hoped that her dad wouldn't connect the dots to Sasuke since she knew that if her father questioned her, she would easily crack and spill everything.

Surprisingly Kichirou just gave her a questioning glance before turning back to the path. "Yes. That happens sometimes. You build up this image in your mind how that person should act based on what others have told you about him or her without realizing that your picture is of a completely different person." Sakura let out a soft sigh. "But," Kichirou continued, "it's something we all just do. Hear the title Hokage and you think of a stern and powerful old man that controls an entire shinobi village . If you met one that's dopey and likes to play jokes on people, you are forced to accept that your notion of a Hokage might be wrong." Kichirou suddenly looked suspiciously at Sakura, "What brought this up Sakura? Did something happen?"

Before Kichirou could delve too deep behind his daughter's inquiry, Sakura caught sight of their front door and sprinted up to it. "Mom, I'm back! Oh, and Dad's with me," Sakura shouted down the steps in the effort to distract her father with her mother.

Ena called out from the terrace where both Sakura and Kichirou found her seated with a scroll. When Kichirou leaned down to kiss his wife, she stopped him with a hand in front of her face and a slight giggle.

"Love, you're dirty. Go take a shower and then we'll see about a kiss." Kichirou gave a playful pout but eventually gave up with a huff when Ena maintained her stance. Once Kichirou left to get cleaned up, Ena switched her gaze from the retreating form of her husband to Sakura.

"Good, you made it back in one piece," Ena said with Sakura rolling her eyes. "Now sit down and we can get started." Sakura glanced at the large pile of papers with a feeling of dread while she lowered herself into a chair.

"And what are we getting started with?" Sakura asked. Ena's response caused a grumble in displeasure and a brief wish to be anywhere but the terrace.

"Well sweetie," Ena started while giving Sakura a small stack of papers. "We're going over the finances for the clan. Now don't give me that look. You need to learn this so you can lead the clan one day." Sakura grumbled again but despite her verbal complaints, started reading the top document on the most recent transactions.

Her parents had been, in effect, training her to take the role of clan leader since Sakura had been a very small child. She was already proficient with the bookkeeping as well as the actual sales process. More recently, she was learning how to navigate the political waters of Konoha.

Often, Kichirou would come back from the Village Council meeting and immediately talk to Sakura about the actions taken by the different council members. He would then set Sakura the task of formulating her own response to hypothetical and real situations. As the head of the clan, Sakura would be expected to represent the Harunos in the Village Council and would need to know how to safeguard their interests. This early political training would be essential in her dealing with other clan heads and the Konoha elders that made up the Village Council. While she was proficient at the exercises, often the sneaky underhanded actions left her with a bad taste in her mouth.

Another thing that she had to look forward to was the Haruno Council. They were the advisors to the clan leader and helped him or her with the administration aspects of running a clan. Once Sakura graduated the Academy and became a legal adult of Konoha, she would be allowed into the Haruno's Council room even though only the Masters were given the right to talk during the meetings.

"And you wonder why we're week," Inner Sakura injected while Sakura was busy checking the latest shipment of copper ore.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Sakura distractedly said.

"Think about it. Most of our free time isn't spent training our shinobi skills, but learning the clan ways. I bet that none of our classmates spend most of every afternoon jumping between working at the Haruno shop, wading through papers, or going over political 'what-if?' situations. They probably have time to train all they want," Inner Sakura grumpily said.

Sakura was shocked at the realization. Her Inner was right. Not once, not even from the other clan heirs and heiresses from her class, did Sakura even hear about any training like she was being put through. If anything, their training was only in shinobi skills. Resentment started to boil through her. If she wasn't forced to spend most of her time being groomed for clan leadership, she might be stronger.

She glanced sharply up at her mother but choked on the angry words. Her anger, as quick as it was to come, faded away. She was still hurt at the fact that her family was holding her back, but when looking in the face of such unconditional love, she couldn't become embittered. She trusted her mother and father with everything. To not trust them now, on such an important matter, felt too much like betrayal. The confusion abruptly stopped when green eyes glanced up and locked onto her own. Startled, Sakura looked back down at the papers in her hands and feverishly hoped Ena didn't notice anything.

"Sakura, what's wrong sweetheart?" Sakura cursed to herself, knowing that she had been caught.

"Nothing, Mom," Sakura tried to dodge the concern starting to radiate from the older woman.

"Sakura," Ena firmly said while setting down her papers. Sakura struggled in vain to focus on the multitude of numbers that swam on her own scroll but eventually gave into the questioning gaze.

"Why am I doing this!" exploded Sakura. "I get that it's suppose to make me a better clan leader, but then what's the purpose of me being a kunoichi? How am I suppose to get better and stronger at that when all I train for is political maneuvers and how to accurately balance a checkbook!" Sakura bit her tongue to stop her rant but held Ena's surprised look.

Unexpectedly, from behind her, Sakura got her answer; "You know why Sakura," Kichirou stated from the doorway leading back into the house. He was rubbing a towel through his damp hair and was in a different pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Padding barefoot, he went to Ena to claim his kiss before turning around to face Sakura.

"Sweetheart," Ena started, "we're a craftsmen clan. The majority of us will never have more than the basic understanding of shinobi skills."

"As the clan head, you need to be able to lead as well as protect them," Kichirou continued. "To survive, we must depend on our craftsmanship, mercantile, and political abilities. To lead you must excel in those fields. Before being a kunoichi of Konoha, you are a smith of the Haruno clan."

"And you know as well as we do that being a kunoichi was nonnegotiable to the Village Council," Ena stated.

"I know Mom, Dad. That's why I'm doing it. But I've already spent so much time on learning our clan ways, why can't I focus more on kunoichi training?"

The two adults looked at each other for a moment before Kichirou started, "Sakura, we've spent the last several years teaching you all these aspects of leading our clan so you wouldn't have to learn them later when you're on a team and consumed with missions."

"But Dad!" Sakura started.

"Don't 'but Dad' me young lady," Kichirou cut in. "We couldn't teach you the actual smith craft when you were younger because you wouldn't have been able to keep up. We did this so you could still learn as much as possible while still being able to be a kunoichi." Chastised, Sakura stayed silent. Kichirou and Ena both seemed to deflate slightly and caught each other's gaze. With a subtle nod to his wife Kichirou picked up again.

"Sakura, we need to discuss this further, but one possible outcome means that you'll have to work long and hard. Your Mom and I need to know if you're willing to put in the time and effort." Both stared hard at their offspring, measuring her up for what was about to come.

"Hard work? Bring it on! Hell yeah! We'll show all of them how much we can put up with!" Inner Sakura yelled while throwing a metaphysical fist in the air. Sakura, though, was a quite a bit more cautious.

"Inner, if Dad says it's going to be hard work, then it's going to be grueling! You know his views are slightly twisted. If I agree, it's going to take everything I have."

Inner was quiet for a moment before responding quietly, "But it will be worth it."

**AN#2**

I am writing this in English (my first and only language) so I was tempted to leave out all of the Japanese language, however I found some of the character interaction to be lacking upon the translation. So, I'm going to include the suffixes in the characters' speech so I can easily denote the familiarity/social position between characters. I will also, as you probably noticed, use the Japanese terminology when concerning the ninja(shinobi/kunoichi) skills. I will also toss in some words that are necessary when portraying Japanese society more (ex: Japanese clothing or specific etiquette).This doesn't mean I'm an expert (domo-arigoto mister roboto is pretty much my limit) so I will be getting most of the definitions online and will use them only when I deem necessary. Some personality inflections (most notably "Naruto-baka" and "Ino-pig") will remain partially for pizzazz and partially to keep the feel of the show. Also, the metal smith terminology will be defined/explained to the best of my ability (aka my ability to Google it). My portrayal of Naruto society will be a mixture of feudal Japan, Industrial Western society, and a dash of fiction due to the super powered ninja inhabiting the land. Also, I know I provide quite a bit of explanation in my AN, but I hope that I clarifies questions that might pop up. If I didn't accurately predict and answer your question, darn, my precognitive skills must be acting up again. Please do ask your questions so I can better both my story and your understanding.

Thank you for reading.

Suffixes

-chan: suffix for familiar (female) person

-kun: suffix for familiar (male) person; usually a young male

-san: a suffix denoting "Mr." or "Mrs." or "Ms."

-baka: fool, idiot; as used above it translates into, roughly: "Stupid Naruto"

-pig: obviously not a Japanese word, but I'm using it like a Japanese suffix. For those that aren't familiar with the show or the translations, Sakura says "Ino-buta" in the original. "Ino" can mean "pig" and "buta" translates into "wild boar." Funny if you know what everything means, but unfortunately the joke is lost upon translation. I'm using "Ino-pig" instead of "Ino-buta" because I feel that, even without the play on words, it aptly demonstrates the relationship between the two girls as one of bickering and one-up-man-ship without any viscous hostility. This is also why Ino uses the insult "Forehead" in my stories as well.

Other Japanese terms used

Hokage: literally "fire shadow;" he/she is the most powerful ninja of the Fire Country's hidden ninja village (Konoha) and is thusly the leader of said village. -_The Hokage Monument (for those that haven't seen the show) is the Naruto version of Mount Rushmore with the past Hokage's faces carved into a large mountain at the edge of the village. At this point, there are four faces._

Sodaime: literally "third;" It's a shortening of "Sodaime Hokage" which means, you guessed it "Third Fire Shadow," and is the third leader of Konoha. Whew, that was a tough one.

shinobi/kunoichi: ninja/female ninja. (In English, when referring to a group of people that includes at least one male, the group is collectively considered masculine. I don't know what it's like in Japanese, but in my story, "shinobi" can mean only male ninja or a group of both gendered ninja. For the feminist out there, I get it, I truly do, but take it up with the grammar gods).

ninjutsu: "secrecy and skills techniques" according to leafninja(.)com. (Oddly enough, the online dictionaries gave me anything from "to be alike" to "second baseman." Damn translations.)

taijutsu: "body techniques" or "classical form of martial arts."

Shogun: This is a historical Japanese inherited political/military position that essential was the leader of Japan during the Japanese feudal ages. I'm not going to get into a long historical lesson (in which I'd probably screw up anyway) so for the sake of this story, the Shogun is the political and military leader of the Fire Country equivalent to a King. Once I start introducing other countries, I'll probably bring in slightly different governments and explain them later.

Konoha: The village Sakura lives in and the main setting for this story. It translates into "Village Hidden in the Leaves" and the ninja can be called Leaf Ninja. I'm definitely keeping the village name and the "Konoha shinobi" can be marked as my desire for pizzazz.

kekkei genkai: blood inheritance; the flashy techniques that are genetically passed down the family line.

Bayakugan: "white eye;" The kekkei genkai of the Hyuuga clan. Users gain x-ray vision, telescopic vision, the ability to see 360 degrees, as well as the ability to see the chakra system within another's body. There is only one small blind spot at the vertebrae of the upper back. The user's eyes are always completely white without a pupil.

chakra: a combination between the energy inherently within the body's cells and the mental and spiritual energy gained from exercise and experience (copied almost verbatim off of Leafninja(.)com).

kunai: throwing knife

wakizashi: a Japanese sword 12-24in. long used for close range fighting and is often paired with a katana and historically only legally used by the samurai class. In my story, they are a sword that is used by anybody and is often the largest sword most shinobi will utilize.

yukata: a casual kimono (robe-like clothing tied with a sash(obi))

Smith terms

ore: a rock that contains minerals and/or metals that are extracted through refining.


End file.
